After a rumor on Tuesday said that the next-gen iPhone models will not come equipped with sapphire displays, as previous reports claimed, a new story from China says that sapphire displays are still in the cards for the two new iPhone 6 handsets Apple will launch this September. The South China Morning Post has learned from industry insiders who have seen iPhone 6 prototypes that the iOS device will be available in two flavors, with 4.7-inch and a 5.5-inch displays.
Both devices will have high resolutions, and offer a 441 pixel per inch (ppi) density, which is significantly higher than the 326ppi offered by current Retina displays – assuming the reported screen size and ppi, the new iPhones would have to offer 2K resolution. The same sources revealed that Apple will rely on sapphire glass for the new iPhones – a recent report revealed that the company’s sapphire plant will be able to produce over 100 millions of sapphire displays for mobile devices this year. Foxconn has reportedly received orders for a trial run of iPhones with sapphire displays.
Furthermore, the iPhone 6 models would have flat screens, not curved ones, as some rumors may have claimed. “The screens will be flat. Apple doesn’t do anything until Samsung does it, and then they improve upon it,” a source said.
Once the bigger iPhone 6 arrive, the iPhone 5c will be discontinued. The iPhone 5s will become the cheaper iPhone model in Apple’s lineup, although future models will be built from cheaper components, the Post says. The publication says the iPhone 6 design “freeze” is set for April, which means design changes for the handsets are still in the cards until that date.
